Chapter 12: The Ginseng King

“Still here.” Looking at the dozen or so bright red ginseng flowers still clearly visible in the grass, Ange patted her chest.

After her own bizarre experiences, she was genuinely afraid that these ginseng plants would transform into ginseng dolls overnight and vanish without a trace.

Taking out the red thread she had gotten from Wen Jiuyue yesterday (Wen Jiuyue, thinking it was just childish whimsy, had given it to her), she tied it to the stem of each plant. Regardless of whether the claims in books and legends were true or not, it couldn’t hurt to follow the instructions.

However, the legend said—

When you see ginseng, you must first shout “club,” the louder the better. This is to tell the ginseng doll that you’ve found it and to prevent it from running away, just like how a child might be scared by a loud shout. Otherwise, the ginseng doll’s spirit might escape…

Leng You hadn’t followed this procedure. Firstly, she thought it was silly; secondly, her childish voice was far from intimidating. If she really shouted, she wouldn’t scare the ginseng doll, but she might frighten Mr. Xiang into thinking she had a mental problem.

“Let’s begin!” Even having seen real high-quality ginseng, Xiang Wentian had never dug ginseng before, so he looked to Leng You.

When his gaze fell on her small stature, his brow twitched.

He was actually going to take orders from an eight-year-old?

It seemed like it was the only option.

“Ginseng has many roots, so we need to widen the outer area first, otherwise, we’ll damage the roots and greatly reduce its value. You…”

When he saw Xiang Wentian take out two entrenching tools, one large and one small, from his bag, Leng You froze.

She didn’t know how Xiang Wentian had managed to find such suitable tools in such a short time, but one thing was certain: Mr. Xiang had been extraordinarily capable since childhood.

“I got them in the county town yesterday,” Xiang Wentian explained lightly, seeing Leng You’s confusion.

“After dinner? So late?” Leng You was even more surprised. The Daheishan Village was sixty miles from the county town.

“Do you know what skiing is?” Leng You’s surprised wide-eyed expression was incredibly cute to Xiang Wentian. His heart softened, and he unconsciously ruffled her little head.

Then, he picked up the larger entrenching tool and prepared to dig a meter away from the ginseng.

“Skiing?” Leng You’s eyes widened further.

Demon!

She could only silently give Mr. Xiang those two words in her heart.

Yet, a new expectation arose.

“I’ll teach you someday,” Xiang Wentian immediately understood the eagerness in Leng You’s eyes.

“Okay!” With her wish fulfilled, Leng You immediately picked up the smaller entrenching tool and started digging.

The soil under the thick layer of fallen leaves was soft. Not only Xiang Wentian, but even Leng You found it effortless to dig.

At first, Xiang Wentian didn’t stop Leng You from helping, thinking that even though her enhanced body was much better, she was still a child, and she would naturally stop when she got tired.

If you didn’t let her help, she might get upset.

Unexpectedly, the little girl, just like him, seemed to feel no fatigue and didn’t stop digging after she started.

Moreover, she dug exceptionally skillfully. To be more precise, she cooperated with him perfectly. Following behind him, within the area he had dug, she carefully dug inward with the small entrenching tool, and her speed wasn’t slow.

Unbeknownst to them, the more Leng You dug, the more startled she became. With a faint warmth emanating from the grape blossom mark on her wrist, it felt like some magical force was guiding her, allowing her to accurately and swiftly dig without damaging a single ginseng root.

“The roots are showing!” After only half an hour, Leng You let out a soft exclamation.

“I’ll take over, you rest for a while,” Xiang Wentian wiped the sweat from his forehead. Wearing only a shirt, his back was already soaked.

“Okay.” Leng You didn’t refuse and wiped her forehead before sitting to the side.

The temperature at the bottom of the valley was drastically different from the top. She had been tense, and she needed to recover, because the next steps were crucial.

“It’s done!” Xiang Wentian stopped.

Leng You discovered that Xiang Wentian, like her, had quickly and precisely exposed most of the ginseng’s stem without damaging any roots, leaving only a small amount of soil under the main root.

She observed carefully; there was no unusual expression on Xiang Wentian’s face, which meant that he, focused on digging, hadn’t felt anything unusual.

Therefore, it could be concluded that the mystery lay with her. Where did Xiang Wentian’s extraordinary ability come from? Was it the purple mist? It must be.

And this purple mist originated from the grape blossom mark on her wrist.

She pressed her wrist. This kind of fantasy always made Leng You feel so unreal, making her wonder if she would wake up to find that she was just a wandering ghost in this human purgatory.

“Let’s do this together.” This wasn’t a one-person job. Leng You got up and stepped forward. She had Xiang Wentian hold the main stem of the ginseng, and she carefully cleaned the last bit of soil from the roots with her small hands.

Until she was sure it was all a dream, Leng You decided to take this new life seriously, to drag those demons into hell.

“It’s out!” When he saw Leng You holding a complete ginseng in her hands, Xiang Wentian’s voice was filled with uncontainable excitement.

“No roots were damaged.” Leng You stood in the pit, which was deeper than her height, her eyes shining like glass.

“Let’s get out of here.” Xiang Wentian put his arms under Leng You’s armpits and gently lifted her out of the pit.

“Quickly get some tree bark.” Ignoring whether this was the second or third way Mr. Xiang had held her, Leng You carefully placed the ginseng on the ground and immediately squatted down to pull some tall weeds.

“Okay.” On the way here, Leng You had told him how to preserve freshly dug ginseng, so after hearing Leng You’s words, Xiang Wentian immediately turned around without delay, found a relatively thick tree, and used his knife to cut a piece of bark.

Leng You quickly wrapped the ginseng in grass, then took the tree bark from Xiang Wentian and wrapped it around the outside, finally tying it tightly with rope. This was to prevent the fresh ginseng from losing moisture.

After finishing, without stopping, they continued to dig the next one.

Since Xiang Wentian had already dug out the surrounding soil, all they had to do was use small shovels to extend inward, and carefully dig after discovering the roots using small sticks or hands.

“The Ginseng King!” When the second ginseng, completely unearthed, appeared before them, Leng You exclaimed in surprise.

This ginseng, including its roots, was at least 1.5 meters long and weighed about 2500 grams.

Leng You had never seen such a large ginseng in any historical record.

Its reeds are round and long, with at least dozens of reed bowls, old and yellow skin, fine texture, beautiful shape, and lots of whip whiskers and pearl nodes…

From these characteristics, it could be judged that this was a centuries-old wild ginseng, an extremely rare treasure.